Meritage Portfolio Management Buys 5,956 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 34,428 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 5,956 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up about 2.5% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $38,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BetterWealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. BetterWealth LLC now owns 602 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,289 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 609 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $680,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sabal Trust CO raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 640 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AVGO. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Broadcom from $1,300.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,500.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,325.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,720.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Broadcom in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,620.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,285.41.

Broadcom Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of Broadcom stock traded up $47.02 on Friday, reaching $1,341.44. 1,424,360 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,923,003. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,304.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,130.68. The company has a market capitalization of $621.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.34. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $601.29 and a 52 week high of $1,438.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.95 by $2.04. Broadcom had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 29.93%. The business had revenue of $11.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 35.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $5.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $21.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.84%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,318.97, for a total transaction of $3,297,425.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,957,296.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,318.97, for a total transaction of $3,297,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,957,296.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth Hao sold 9,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,388.13, for a total value of $12,715,270.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45 shares in the company, valued at $62,465.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,920 shares of company stock valued at $40,306,667. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Inc designs, develops, and supplies various semiconductor devices with a focus on complex digital and mixed signal complementary metal oxide semiconductor based devices and analog III-V based products worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software.